Regulatory Review: June–July 2024
This digest provides an overview of some of the latest regulatory news announcements of interest to the SETAC community. Please send your suggestions to [email protected].
Australia
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) released a draft plan to meet the national target to protect and conserve 30% of land by 2030, referred to as the 30 by 30 target and agreed to the National Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) framework.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and Health Canada (HC)
Draft State of PFAS Report and Risk Management Scope Published for Public Comment
Information submitted in the first 60-day comment period led to an Updated draft State of Per- and Polyfluoroakyl substances (PFAS) Report and a Revised Risk Management Scope. The comment period for the updated documents closes on 11 September.
Environmental Quality Guidelines for Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, Xylene (BTEX) Published
The Federal Environmental Quality Guidelines for the protection of aquatic life from adverse effects of BTEX in freshwater and the summary of public comments on its draft have been published.
European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)
Flame Retardant Added to the Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC)
Bis(α,α-dimethylbenzyl) peroxide, a flame retardant, has been deemed toxic for reproduction and has been added to the SVHC. When a chemical is added to the list, suppliers have to give their customers and consumers information on how to use it safely.
European Union (EU)
Agri-indicator Fact Sheet Update
The EU released a fact sheet on the EU agri-environmental indicator on the consumption of pesticides. The group “fungicides and bactericides” was the most sold group of pesticides in the EU in 2022. Germany, Spain, France and Italy together accounted for more than two-thirds of the volume of total EU pesticide sales each year over the period between 2011 and 2022.
International Institute for Sustainable Development
The IISD and partners launched the Responsible Agricultural Investment (RAI) Tool for Agribusiness. The tool provides a framework to assist agribusinesses and investors to integrate positive social and environmental outcomes into responsible business practices and investments.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
The OECD and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations released the Agricultural Outlook for 2024–2033. In short, emerging economies will continue to drive agricultural markets over the next decade, but regional changes are expected.
United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
Comparing Human Health and Economic Cost-Benefit of New Toxicity-Testing Methods
The USEPA published a case-study for using the Value of Information (VOI) Framework to evaluate the trade-offs associated with the uncertainty, timeliness and costs of the draft EPA Transcriptomic Assessment Product (ETAP).
Public Comment on Historic Hudson River PCB Cleanup
The USEPA’s third Five-Year Review Report concludes that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) levels in water and fish are going down overall, but the USEPA needs more years of fish data to determine if the cleanup is meeting the expectations of the original cleanup plan. The public can comment on the draft report until 8 October.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Launch of Antimicrobial Resistance Media Engagement Toolkit
The quadripartite organizations, made up of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), UNEP, World Health Organization (WHO) and World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), developed a practical toolkit for engaging media in antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The aim is to equip individuals, organizations and networks with tools for media engagement on AMR at subnational, national, regional and global levels to increase public awareness of AMR, including policy-makers, civil society and communities.
Pharmaceutical Waste: Practices and Challenges in Ensuring Their Environmentally Sound Management
The recording of the June Basel Convention Open-Ended Working Group Pharmaceutical Waste presentations and discussion is now available online. The objective of the event was to shed light on current practices and pressing challenges in addressing pharmaceutical waste from various sources (health care, agriculture, pharmaceutical manufacturing and households) and raise awareness on the need to ensure the environmentally sound management of unused pharmaceuticals through a One Health approach.